This community is incredible. The staff, students, faculty, and community all work hard to bring the entire area to a new level.
A truly community-based development organization with an excellent, proven track record of improving lives.
The Carmen Pampa Fund is a force for good in the world. It truly represents the transformative power of higher education in action. My volunteer experience at the UAC-CP was very impactful and shaped my career trajectory.
I volunteered with the UAC in 2014, mainly working with students and volunteers doing physical labor around the campus. What amazed me the most and showed me how incredible UAC is, was the consistent dedication the students had to their studies, their school, and their greater community. Not only did they want an education to reach great levels of success for themselves, but also help their community share in that fruitfulness by taking the time to make it a cleaner and safer place. The UAC not only builds up the individual, but also the community, and that is why it is so special.
I have a long relationship with the UAC-Carmen Pampa and supporting the Carmen Pampa Fund. Over the years I have written grants, volunteered, done research, collaborated with students and faculty, shared meals, and been personally transformed—like so many others—by my connections with this amazing institution and its people. The Carmen Pampa Fund is much more than a "great nonprofit" (which it is), it is a multicultural, cross-border community of people devoted to the transformative power of education. Its quantifiable reach—in terms of number of graduates and people served by farming, tourism, and healthcare projects—has undoubtedly been great. But the unquantifiable ripple effect in terms of promoting physical and spiritual wellness, intellectual curiosity, social justice, and human achievement is what makes the UAC, and the Fund, so deeply special and worthy of support.
I worked as a PiLA fellow for Carmen Pampa Fund this past year and lived at the College for most of that time. Carmen Pampa Fund is made up of a team of incredibly passionate people who care deeply about making higher education possible for students of marginalized rural backgrounds in Bolivia. The work they do has positively impacted the lives of hundreds of graduates of the College. The wonderful community of friends, supporters and volunteers that CPF has built in the US and Bolivia over the years speaks volumes to its integrity and awesome-ness as an organization!
I taught at the UAC for one challenging but ultimately rewarding year. There were so many wonderful people at the school and in the surrounding community -- my life would be poorer if I hadn't met them, and I'll always be grateful to CPF for bringing us together. I've had some great students since then, but none quite like those at the UAC, some of whom still bring a smile to my face. All told, my experiences in Carmen Pampa reaffirmed my commitment to education and justice, and I'll carry them with me for the rest of my life.
In graduate school I had to find an international group where I could do a short term project in engineering and community building. I was lucky enough to find Carmen Pampa and was able to get so much more out of my experience than I imagined. Not only was able to learn about the amazing offerings at Carmen Pampa and meet fabulous students and volunteers, I also got drawn into a couple of different projects with water and biogas. I was excited to find passionate students who had found a school that nurtured and supported their talents and passions. This is a beautiful community doing amazing work in the world to support rural communities in Bolivia. Gracias a todos los que me enseñaron mucho sobre lo que significa construir una comunidad y generar confianza.
To have the oppotunity to Volunteer at the UAC was one of the best things in my life. It’s such an important work and the People do it with so much passion and heart... thank you for everything
Jean and I volunteered at Carmen Pampa for three years (2006-9). Since then we have been thrilled to watch our students from poor backgrounds move steadily into positions of influence in their rural areas, taking leadership in business, agriculture, education, medicine, finance, etc.
During our years at Carmen Pampa, we found the students to be exceptionally motivated learners from strong rural families without the psychological handicaps which afflict many North American youngsters in poverty. Also they carry the rural indigenous tradition of working for the common good. This tradition is still very much alive. The university reinforces it requiring every student to contribute at least four hours of work weekly for the college community. The school founder, Sr. Damon Nolan MFIC, would say to the students, “If you are here just to get ahead for yourselves like North American students, I would just as soon you left. You are here for your people, your community.” This is exactly what most of our students have done, returning to their pueblos rather than seeking the better paying jobs in the big city or abroad.
As North Americans, we like to problem-solve international issues by dispatching our experts into the troubled area to ‘resolve the issue’. Our record has not been good. The fact is that addressing problems of poverty requires local knowledge. Situations change rapidly with the political and economic winds. Solutions require the action of educated, confident, dedicated native people. For 25 years Carmen Pampa has excelled at producing such leaders
The price of educating a student at Carmen Pampa ($260/semester) is a tiny fraction the cost of a North American college education. Your small investment can train a leader who will remain in the poor area, will be invested in it beyond simple personal gain, and will continue to lead through the evolving changes in the country. The payback on your donation will compound year after year.
I volunteered at the University of Carmen Pampa from 2013 - 2015. My wife and I worked as teachers and volunteers in many different capacities. My experience as an English teacher was formational and largely influenced my decision to pursue teaching English Language in the US.
A strong culture of volunteerism has developed in Carmen Pampa due to both foreign volunteers visiting (thanks to Sister Damon and gang) over the years and a deeply rooted Bolivian culture of ayni (reciprocity, helping one another out, or community service). The life around Carmen Pampa is magical; students are improving their lives through education and opportunity, community members are contributing, professionals build their careers and do important research, and ultimately, oppressive systems of poverty are being put to an end. I am forever grateful for the time and experiences I've had in Carmen Pampa. Please support this org. through volunteering or donating!!
I lived and volunteered in Carmen Pampa through the Carmen Pampa Fund for seven months in 2008. This experience was a big part of my reason to keep coming back to Bolivia off and on, and I've been living in La Paz since 2014. Over all these years, I've kept close ties with the Carmen Pampa Fund and the amazing students and administrators of the college. I still support the Fund with video and photography projects in Bolivia, and many of the relationships I have there and at the college - personal and professional - are some of the most important to me. The college continues to change lives of students all over Bolivia, and the Carmen Pampa Fund and it's dedicated staff and volunteers play an indispensable role in making that happen!
Learn more by watching the video above this review. I made this in 2018 with my friend and UAC-Carmen Pampa Agronomy graduate, Reinaldo Mendoza, who today is doing amazing things!
My time volunteering at Carman Pampa was an experience that I will never forget. My wife loves the school because they treat females equally with males. There is an equal number of females in the school as males.
The curriculum was designed so that the students obtain degrees skills that will benefit their home community; Education, Nursing, Veterinary Medicine, Agronomy and Tourism. All students take Spanish and English and are computer literate.
Every student must pass a test to ensure they are ready for college. If they don’t get a satisfactory grade on the test, they are required to take an extra year to bring them up to college level. They are also tested before they graduate to ensure that they have obtained the knowledge to deserve the degree in that field.
Carmen Pampa is an excellent university. They take their job of educating every student very seriously. I was very impressed with the level of dedication by the university and the students.
My experience in 2006 in Carmen Pampa as a volunteer math teacher at the University was so rewarding that I returned yearly to contribute what I could to this remarkable educational venture. Working with the students (including some of those in the video) has expanded my horizons and enriched my life enormously . The University runs on a shoestring and deserves generous support for the work it does to transform the lives of impoverished Bolivians.
My work with the UAC Carmen Pampa was life changing. There is a palatable buzz on campus and in the community. The students, staff, community, and Carmen Pampa Fund staff know there’s something incredibly special happening and all are so proud to be a part of it. My work with the students and Carmen Pampa Fund team is a source of inspiration that I still draw on today. The students desire to learn, the faculties passion for teaching, and the communities engagement is unlike any I’ve ever seen in other developing countries and similar projects. Myself, extended family members, and colleagues continue to support the Carmen Pampa Fund through charitable donations and I can’t imagine that we will ever stop. Seeing success stories coming out regularly only fuels our desire to continue supporting in any way we can.
I have been involved with many non-profits over the years, but never one as successful at poverty eradication for rural people as Carmen Pampa Fund. They use education as their main tool to help young students achieve skills which the students then promise to bring to their communities, so that all in the village can benefit. They are extremely efficient with the money they raise to help these students with their tuition for the college in Bolivia, relying heavily on volunteers who are more than happy to contribute their time and hearts to this amazing mission. Carmen Pampa Fund is the most successful and efficient poverty eradication organization I have ever encountered.